With this distinction, approved by the City Council of Ontinyent last November, is intended to recognize the work that Esteban Morcillo did to promote the University Campus of Ontinyent, where during his tenure were extended academic degrees and launched programs such as the University of Autumn, Unisocietat and the Chair InnovatiOnt.

In his words, Esteban Morcillo highlighted the important contribution of the City Council and Caixa Ontinyent, 'without which the Ontinyent Campus would not have been possible'.  Likewise, former Rector Morcillo has pointed out that he understands this recognition 'as belonging to all the Rectors, Boards of Directors, Councils of Government and Faculties of the University, its deanery and management teams, because without their support it would not have been possible to achieve this Campus that we enjoy today a reality, both in terms of infrastructures and in terms of qualifications'.

In her speaking time, the rector Mª Vicenta Mestre defined Morcillo 'as a Renaissance man for the diversity and intensity of his scientific and cultural interests, a rector who has been brilliant in times of complexity and whom you honour with ample reason and I admire'. In addition, Mestre highlighted the commitment of former rector Esteban Morcillo to the public university, 'a commitment reflected in the significant investment made in the Ontinyent Campus, which was very difficult due to the financial difficulties we have gone through and continue to go through, and which is the fruit of his involvement and an important process of dialogue and debate until reaching the consensus of being present in Ontinyent'.

Also present at the event were Ontinyent City Council's Education Councillor, Óscar Borrell, and the rector who preceded Esteban Morcillo at the academic institution, Francisco Tomás, and the director of the Ontinyent Campus, José Cantó.

In addition, many of the members of the University's Board of Directors, did not want to miss this appointment, such as the Secretary General Mª Elena Olmos, the Vice-Rector for Studies and Language Policy, Isabel Vázquez, the Vice-Rector for Research, Carlos Hermenegildo, the vice-rector of Academic Organisation and Faculty, Ernest Cano, and the manager of the University, Juan Vicente Climent, as well as the dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Podiatry, Antoni Merelles, and the dean of Medicine and Dentistry, Javier Chorro.

Other prominent authorities were former members of the Morcillo governing teams, such as the former Secretary General Mª José Añón and the former Vice President of Economy and Infrastructures, Juan Luis Gandia.  Also in attendance were Anna's current mayor and president of the Navarrés Canal Community, Pilar Sarrión, and the former mayors of Ontinyent Manuel Reguard, Rafael Portero and Lina Insa.

The awarding of the title of adoptive son and the city's pin to Esteban Morcillo coincides with the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Ontinyent Campus, which initially opened the 1998/1999 academic year with the diploma in Business Sciences. At present, the Ontinyent Campus offers four degrees: Degree in Business Management and Administration, Degree in Preschool Education, Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and Degree in Nursing.

During Esteban Morcillo's period in the rectorate of the University of Valencia, he invested three million euros in the new building of the Ontinyent Campus, to which another 1.5 million were subsequently added for the adaptation of the basement and the rehabilitation of the façades of the old Lluís Vives. The award of the degree strengthens Dr. Morcillo's bond with Ontinyent after he was awarded the City Gold Medal at the Universitat de València-Estudi General in 2004.